The Almighty and the Beast
Tonight was a pretty decent episode of Raw and I was pleasantly surprised that the 3 hours didn’t drag along like some weeks. Here’s some of my personal highlights from this weeks episode.
The Only Right Decision
Bobby needs this win and there’s no denying that. In this feud Brock has looked much stronger in all promos and for Bobby to lose it would be a big loss to his push. Brock on the other hand did lose to Roman recently but he’s Brock Lesnar and one more loss to someone as talented like Lashley wouldn’t really ruin his credibility.
WWE also have a habit of making the winner look weak right before the big match. One of many examples is the SmackDown prior to Money in The Bank 2021 where Rollins beat Big E in a one on one match then the latter got the win after hitting his finisher on Rollins at the actual event.
For Raw I think it would be great to see Lashley get the title back then Big E win the rumble and beat Lashley clean at Mania to really solidify himself as being worthy of that title.
Bianca Is Still Looking Strong
When it comes to the Women’s division, Bianca Belair is easily my favorite wrestler. In a division that mainly focused on a few women (looking at you Becky and Charlotte), Bianca is one of the few who managed to really stand out. WWE have done their best to protect her and keep her in the crowds eye without risking her win/loss record. If you look at someone like Rhea who came up around the same time, WWE have really dropped the ball with her booking while Bianca has really shined.
To assume they are eyeing her for the WrestleMania main event wouldn’t be much of a stretch. Now someone else could win the rumble and challenge Charlotte but it would definitely be more fun for Bianca to win then not only win 2 years in a row but also be main eventing WresleMania for the second year in a row.
The only other person I’d love to see win the rumble would be Asuka if she returns but I definitely won’t be disappointed if we see Bianca as the winner.
Priest Needs A Change
I’m sure I’m not the only one who thinks his gimmick isn’t working. Priest was quite over as a babyface and was always getting a great crowd reaction so turning him into somewhat of a tweener just doesn’t seem to be working.
Although Priest is great he really should have lost the belt to K.O purely so he can enter the world title picture. At one stage I felt he could have won the rumble but I also felt the same about Riddle and doesn’t seem likely now. I guess we’ll need to see what happens with Priest in the build to Mania and if he does manage to work his way into the world title picture.
Chad Gable Can Really Go
Chad Gable is one of those wrestlers that is super talented and if he was 6’5 he would probably be a world champ by now. He’s got an amateur background, is really good on the mic and really knows how to make a crowd hate him if he needs to but he’s never really booked to his full potential.
This match with Orton was really good and they actually made you believe that if it wasn’t for the distraction by Riddle, Gable may have actually won this match. I personally would have liked to see Orton put him over, even if it’s just once but I guess if there’s a rematch for the tag titles and Alpha Academy do retain, that can be Gable’s chance to get the pin.
I think it’s also worth saying the name Chad Gable as much as we can since once Gable Steveson joins the WWE I bet they’ll be doing some name changes.
Theory About the Future
Now most people are expecting an established star such as Big E (my pick), Brock or even Drew McIntyre (if he’s cleared I’d also like to see him win again) to win the Rumble. I personally wouldn’t mind something different happening such as a future star like Austin Theory winning the rumble.
He’s go the skills and although his gimmick could definitely do with some changes, Cena started off with a boring gimmick before he started his Doctor of Thuganomics character. I’m also curious to see if Bron Breakker enters the rumble. I think it’s too early for him to win though and I’d rather see him win MITB then enter the main roster that way.
Well that’s it for my review of the 24th January episode of Monday Night Raw. If you’d like to be notified of future posts, please subscribe at the bottom of the page.
